The Walking Dead
by MissPHalliwell
Summary: Sorry I couldn't come up with a better title guys :( and I also still suck at writing summaries. So read and I'll come up with one as soon as I think of it.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N Guess who's back! I'm so sorry it's been so long guys. It's been an enormously crazy year. I went from a married Mommy of one to a single Mommy of two if you catch my drift. All my other stories are on hiatus at the moment, but I AM working on them, just give me a min. Anyway! I hope you guys enjoy this. I loved writing it and it will continue. I've two chapters written up on the computer now and like 4 others on paper. They will get uploaded though. One more thing before I get started...well actually two. Go read Look Alive, Sunshine by AutumnSkyy. It's freaking awesome and also gave me the idea for this story and also, Andrea is kind of different in this story. Mostly because I liked her for in the first season..and the second and third ones. :) Happy Reading My Lovelies! ~MissP~**

Chapter 1

Daryl Dixon wasn't someone you would want to call sweet or kindhearted. Some people called him an ignorant racist jackass. Few people saw the soft side of him. His former stepmother, and his four-year-old sister. His step mom had been there for him since he was fifteen, and had his sister when he was 25. He had a soft spot for them both, especially his little sister. Ever since the outbreak started he'd been running. His father had gotten bitten, served the drunk bastard right, according to Daryl, and his step mother had come down with the fever and died shortly after. Daryl and Merle had been saddled with their four-year-old sister Izabella. Merle had gone over to bring food to them and found the little girl hiding from her recently turned mother in the closet. She was a tough little kid, never cried, and of course with all she'd seen since she was born no one would expect her to. She was a Dixon, and Dixon's didn't cry.

The three of them had shown up at the camp 2 weeks ago with a sleeping little one in Daryl's arms. They asked to stay, and Shane, the one they all looked to for answers and advice, agreed to let them stay. Daryl was to help hunt for food and Merle went with Glen and Jackie and the others to Atlanta to find supplies. Daryl had asked Lori and Carol to watch over his sister. The kid needed a warm place to sleep and people to keep her safe while her fiercest protectors were gone.

Izabella woke up in a strange place again, she was lying in a bed in a camper of some sort and a strange man was across from her. She sat up and then remembered where she was, she was with the strange people at the camp and her Daryl was off hunting. She heard her tummy growl and quietly escaped the camper and went outside in the cool Georgia air. Soon she found a stick and began poking at the remains of the fire, watching the embers turn red and slowly die, sometimes a flicker of flames came up and went back down. She smiled to herself, Daryl had taught her to build a fire last year on her third birthday, and he'd taken her camping because Mama had to work that weekend. He had taught her to fish and which berries were safe to eat and how to catch a squirrel to eat and how to boil water so it would be safe to drink.

' _Ya never play with fire Izzy, it's dangerous and you'll burn yerself if yer not careful._ '

 _'_ _Yes Daryl_.' She had said, looking at her big brother with admiration. She poked at the embers again and smiled as a flame came up among them. A man, Shane, slowly came out of one of the tents and walked over to her.

"Whatchya doin' there little one?" He asked her as he squatted down beside her and admired the fire she had gotten going.

"Gettin' fire." She muttered, Daryl didn't like Shane…neither did Merle. _'Don't trust 'im 'sfar as I can throw 'im._ ' He'd told Merle yesterday before he left. They'd both told Izzy to stay close to Carol, and Lori if the former wasn't around. Izzy liked Carol a lot, she reminded her of her Mama before she got sick.

"Careful now. You don't want it to high." Izzy glanced at him and tried not to give him a look.

"I know. My brother taught me how. He knows lots of things." She told him.

Shane smiled at her, "He show ya how to eat a hotdog off a stick?" he asked.

"Uh uh" Eat a hot dog off a stick? Was this man crazy? Daryl showed her how to sharpen sticks and get squirrels and cook them over the fire. But eating a hotdog off a stick? Shane got up and went to the cooler and grabbed two hot dogs,

"Can I borrow that?" He asked. Izzy nodded and handed it over to him. He put one of the hotdogs on it and slowly stuck it in the fire and turned it. "These get too hot to hold when they're done, and when you don't have paper plates it's a life saver." He explained as he took the stick and handed it to her with the cooked food on it. "Blow on it and take a bite." Izzy did just that and smiled at him as she chewed and then took another bite. This thing was good. She looked up to see Carol and Sophia, crawl out of their tent.

"What are you doing Izabella? Come on over here with us." Carol said as she held out her hand to the little girl. Izzy obediently dropped the stick and walked over and took Carols outstretched hand. She looked over at Shane as Carol and Sophia led her away from him. He was watching her with a weird look on his face. She stopped, suddenly she felt very scared of Shane. Carol looked down at the little girl, but didn't realize she was staring at Shane until she reached down and picked her up.

"I don' like him Miss Carol. He's lookin' at me weird."

"Shhh...sweetheart. I know he is. We'll go down to the quarry until Lori and Carl get up. Then we can have some school time. Okay?"

"Yes Miss Carol." Izzy said absentmindedly. Still staring back at Shane.


	2. Chapter 2

**Okay, so I know some of these chapters are short, but I have longer ones. So there's that. Happy Reading!**

Chapter 2

Izabella skipped happily alongside Amy as she held her hand and carried the bucket of mushrooms they had picked. "Got a lot for me?" Lori asked as Amy dropped the bucket in front of her.

"How do I know what ones are poisonous?" Izzy gave the older girl a look.

"How come ya go 'shroom huntin if ya don know what ones ya kin eat?" She asked her. Amy looked at Lori as they held in their laughter. The little one was a Dixon, and she had the biggest temper of them all when she wasn't being taken seriously.

"Izzy," Carol called to her "Come down to the quarry with me"

"Okay miss Carol." On their way down Carol looked down at Izzy with a serious look. "Your bother Daryl said to stay by me or Lori at camp sweetheart. It's not safe for you in the woods." Izzy looked up at Carol.

"Miss Carol. It ain't safe for no one anywhere, big or little." Carol smiled at the little one who was wise beyond her 4 years. Daryl had told her that her mother had gotten sick and turned in front of her. _'She's seen too much for a kid this age_.' He'd told her. _'I can try and shield her from it, but what's the use of that?'_

"It may not be safe for anyone. But there are people here who know how to keep you safer than you would be in the woods. Stay by me or Lori until Daryl or Merle comes back." Izzy regarded her again. She liked Carol and Lori, but they were busy sometimes and their kids Carl and Sophia were too old to play with her. She liked going into the woods with her Amy. The two had grown close since they had met. Izzy had never had a big sister before; just her Momma.

"Can't Amy keep me safe too?" She asked, Sophia was okay too, but she didn't venture from her mother very much to be a big sister...and Carl was a boy.

"Not until Andrea gets back. Amy is just a kid herself Izzy. Promise me you won't go into the woods any more until your brothers get back. Amy or no Amy. No even with me or Lori. Alright?" Izzy nodded in agreement.

"A'right Miss Carol." She smiled up at the older woman and showed her two tiny rows of baby teeth. She was so small for her age, just like Sophia had been...and still was. Her soft blonde hair was in a ponytail on top of her head, well the parts that hadn't fell in wispy strands around her face. Her brown eyes looked as if they could see past someone and into their soul. Carol felt the little girls small hand wrap it's self in hers, trusting her to keep her safe. If only she could do that for this little one and her daughter.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

"Where's Merle?" Izzy demanded someone tell her. The youngest Dixon's face was redder than a fire truck. Tears welled up in her brown eyes. Carol tried to bend down and comfort her, mostly because no one else was listening to the little ones anger. Lori and Carl had been reunited to Rick, their husband and father. Amy with Andrea, Morales with his family, T-Dog came over to Izzy and bent down. "Hey Iz, how are you?" Izabella adored T-Dog even though Merle didn't. She looked at him with sad brown tear filled eyes.

"Where is Merle? Daryl promised he'd come back." T-Dog looked back at Rick and nodded his head to the little girl. Luckily he'd had practice with this. Rick came over and bent down to Izzy's level. She liked him immediately. He had blue eyes like her Momma, and he spoke softer than Shane. Izzy felt safe with him. "Hi there sweetheart. Can I talk to you? Just for a moment." Izzy looked back at Carol, who nodded at the little girl. She allowed Rick to take her up into his arms and sit on a stump a little way away from everyone. He set her down on her feet so that they were on the same level.

"Where is Merle?" She asked him again.

Rick regarded the little girl. "Sweetheart, your brother Merle was being very mean and very loud. He almost got us killed, and when we were leaving he wouldn't come with us. We had a limited amount of time, so we had to leave him behind."

Izabella regarded the man. It was very true that Merle was mean and loud. If they had to leave him because of it… "It's okay if you left him Mr. But my brother Daryl is gon' be mad." Izzy patted his knee and ran back to Amy and Andrea, raising her arms. Amy picked her up and Andrea gave her the one of the necklaces that she'd gotten. She put her head on Amy's shoulder and let her gaze wonder around the camp. Everyone but Carol and Sophia were reuniting with someone, they were sitting with Ed.

Only Andrea saw the look that Ed gave the little girl in her sister's arms, it wasn't a kind look either. She'd seen that look before and she'd die before she let him get to that baby. So, she took the little girl from her sister and went into the camper. She set Izzy down and watched her get the little notepad from under one of the seats, take the pencil out and look at the mean and nice list she apparently had kept long before the end of the world. It had everyone's name on either side. Most of them were on the 'Nice' side. She watched her write Ed's name under Shane.

"What's the man's name Andrea? The one that Lori and Carl were hugging?"

"That's Rick, honey. He's Carl's daddy." She told the little girl as she watched her write Ricks name under Carl's. Her heart filled up when she saw that her name was first one the list.

She gestured over at Amy to come over to them and took Izzy in her arms.

"Why don't we go down to the quarry guys?" She said, smiling at them both.

Later that night everyone was sitting by the fire. Izzy was curled up on Andrea's lap and starting to fall asleep. She saw Carol sitting at the other fire with Ed and Sophia, and caught her eye, without taking her thumb out of her mouth she waved. Carol wave back and mouthed ' _Goodnight_ ' to her. Izzy smiled and closed her eyes, but still heard the conversation that Dale started.

"Have you given any thought to Daryl Dixon? He won't be happy to hear his brother was left behind."

T-Dog spoke up then, "I'll tell him. I dropped the key. It's on me."

Rick answered him, "I cuffed him. That makes it mine."

"Guys, it's not a competition. I don't mean to bring race into this, but it might sound better coming from a white guy." Glen chimed in.

"I did what I did. Hell if I'm going to hide from it." T-Dog told them.

"We could lie." Amy added, holding on tight to Andrea's arm. Andrea shifted the little girl in her arms.

"Or tell the truth. Merle was out of control. Something had to be done or he'd have gotten us killed." She turned to Lori, "Your husband did what was necessary, and if merle got left behind, it's nobody's fault but his."

"And _that's_ what we tell Daryl? I don't see a rational discussion to be had from that, do you?" Dale asked them, "Word to the wise, we're going to have our hands full when he gets back from his hunt."

"I was scared and I ran. I'm not ashamed of it." T-Dog whispered.

"We were all scared. _We all ran._ What's your point?" Andrea defended their actions.

"I stopped long enough to chain that door. Staircase is narrow. Maybe half a dozen geeks can squeeze against it at any one time. It's not enough to break through that—not that chain, not that padlock. My point—Dixon's alive, and he's still up there, handcuffed on that roof. That's on us." T-Dog got up and left the fire.

Izzy turned in Andrea's lap and opened her eyes. She began playing with Andrea's hair. She heard Lori, Rick, and Carl say goodnight and make their way back to their tent and Ed snoring by his fire. Andrea looked down at the little girl in her arms.

"I thought you were sleeping Iz." She whispered softly. Izzy shook her head.

"So you heard everything?"

Izzy nodded.

Andrea sighed, "Let us tell Daryl. Okay?"

Izzy nodded again and Andrea stood up and helped Amy and Dale up and the four of them went inside the camper.


End file.
